New to the Diablo franchise, been playing D3 trial to help get acclimated. One thing I struggled with was knowing what item was better as I sorted through my loot drops.
I’m sure its a nuanced decision, especially at higher levels but are there any rule-of-thumb conventions people use to decide which items are better? Color? Level? Etc?
In particular with weapons: does the displayed DPS factor in the stats or effects the weapon has or is that number strictly the physical damage dealt by the weapon.
Thanks for any tips!
With weapons I usually go with the most DPS. If you are not sure if the actual weapon is an upgrade or not you can always open your character panel (I - on keyboard) and check the stats in Stats and Materials panel.
With armour I mainly go with item power that is displayed under the item’s name when you inspect it. But with armour is a bit different than with weapons cause it might have certain stats (+ skill for example) that you may want to keep.
First 20-30 levels should be enough for you to get to know the systems and make mistakes that won’t affect you too much.
Just play the early game and try and experiment as much as you can. Even skill respec shouldn’t cost you that much. By the time you’ll reach 50, where the real game starts to kick in, you should know what works for you and what’s not.
Don’t copy paste class builds from some random youtubers or streamers. All the fun is in finding your own way to play.
1 Like
So just whatever the highest number is? Don’t worry about effects or other stats?
Thanks for the advice!
In the early game probably yes.
Of course you may find weapon that has some skill upgrade of effect that will work with your play style and you might want to keep it for longer. At the beginning you will be changing items so frequently that you’ll be probably better off with what hits the mobs harder.
In server slam I was playing with Rogue. I had her at lvl 18 or 19 and I still had a bow equipped from level 8 or 10 cause it was giving me nice bonus to Agility. It wasn’t my main weapon though. My main weapons were always the ones with highest DPS.
Some may disagree with me so wait and see if anyone else has anything to add, but that’s what worked for me.
And like I said. End game will be a bit different but by then you will already know what’s what. 
1 Like
D3 does a really nice job of comparing items for you IMHO, but D4 seems to really not tell you anything terribly useful which I found disappointing.
If this can help, here are several screenshots (green circle/ellipses show the comparison data, red ones are optional info displayed)
D3 items comparison
https://ibb.co/BZz51nH
D4 items comparison
https://ibb.co/PtW767h
WoW items comparison
https://ibb.co/ZYmXyv0
So D4 is a bit like WoW, except that data are shown on the equipped item for WoW vs on the alternative in D3/D4, and that D4 tries to display the delta values near the modified similar values rather than at the bottom.
D3 put no emphasis on affixes at all, it just show 3 integrated values, but these may be pretty misleading due not taking in account some mechanics (such as orange affixes with yellow square if I remember properly).
People may find pros and cons about each method…
What I dislike a bit in D4, is that (unless if I missed something) on each new gaming session, I have to toggle comparison (once) by pressing shift, while the other games do not require such manual toggle, a simple hover displays the comparison. I wish we had an option in the menu to always enable it, once for all.
1 Like
There are several weaknesses to the red/green system.
One, you have to go to Options, etc. in order to turn on higher function. This will tell you everything you lose or gain. If you can figure it out, it makes #3 easier but…
Two, it only does red/green going one way on 2-handed weapons. So, it will tell you that X 2-handed is better than your weapon and off-hand item. However, it will not tell you that X is worse than A and B - only that it is better than A or B.
Three, generally, it only deals with armor and damage. So, adds to critical chance, etc. may not be in the quick number. So, you will want to look for increases or decreases to these items.
Four, +X to skills is not in the algorithm. As such, you have to decide if the straight DPS is better by trail and error.
Five similarly, A leads to B is not in the algorithm. So, if it states you get a barrier when under 50% health in item A and critical damage increased 30% against Undead in item B, that has to be a personal choice.
Six, items with an aspect that is the same will not stack. So, if you get an item that gives you the aspect, that part will be greyed out. As such, you may want to stick with the original item unless the above numbers are compelling enough to equip the item.
1 Like
You can change the toggle by going into the Options panel in game. I just do not remember the process after that.
1 Like
Haha the last few players have gone over my head a bit but i sure do appreciate the feedback. Sounds like trial and error is gonna be best, which is totally fine. I look forward to discovering many things. I do suffer from Game Hoarding Syndrome though…I’m very reluctant to want to part with anything I don’t understand that looks like something i may want/need someday. I’m sure storage is a consideration in this game.
Thanks for feedback so far!